Space 2099: The Year We Left Earth's Orbit
by homel001
Summary: Space 1999 retold in our near future of the year 2099. "Breakaway retold" please read and review thaks : hope you enjoy. Y1 and Y2 cast


Space: 2099

The Year We Left Earth's Orbit

(Breakaway Retold)

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters and references to the Original Space: 1999 and the fan reboot Space: 2099. I only have the rights to this story as this my first shot at a totally new way of retelling the story of Moonbase Alpha. Y2 cast included. R&R please?

September 9th 2099

The Moon had passed infront of the suns glamorous rays. The space docked had made its 1000th full orbit around the moons orbit. Daybreak had arrived at Moonbase Alpha and already, the 311 men and women were at their stations, doing their shifts at their designated sections. It was an important day for two separate occasions. Earth had made contact with a far distant planet that had entered their solar system, a few months back and a major nuclear testing operation had to be carried out on the lunar surface. The Moon itself had become a place where ships from Earth would dump their nuclear waste, and it was Alpha's job to manage the waste safely. In order to store the waste into self contained silos, the base had set up two Waste Disposal Areas. Waste Disposal Area 1 had already been managed and it was safely under wraps, but Waste Disposal Area 2 had become a problem.

On the lunar surface, a small yellow moon buggy approached the laser barrier at Waste Disposal Area 2, driving it, were two men in orange space suits with yellow helmets. Behind them, were tubes and boxes of nuclear waste and scientific equipment. The driver pulled out his comlock device and deactivated the barrier with a push of a button.

"Professor Bergman." He said. "We've just crossed through the laser barrier now."

The moon buggy pulled up at the silos and the two men hopped out. Looking out from the observation building, Professor Victor Bergman and Dr Helena Russell, were monitoring the job at had. Helena's Job was to monitor the men's heat rates and pulse as they were going to be exposed to radiation. Victor was in charge of the operation as he voluntarily asked to do the job.

"Ok Connors." He replied over the radio. "But please take your time?"

He then looked at Helena, who was monitoring the men's pulse.

"Their heart rates seem normal at the moment." She said to him. "If there are any effects of radiation sickness, then we should see some signs anytime soon?"

Victor just nodded and returned to window. Outside, the two men were unloading the tubes if waste into the silos. It was a slow and quiet shift and it all seemed quite fine, but Victor began to notice that one of the men began to slow down. Beginning to get concerned, Victor contacted the man via his comlock.

"Are you alright Thompson?" he asked.

"I'm, I'm not sure." The man replied. "I'm having a hard time seeing."

Victor looked at Helena. The man was beginning to show the early signs of radiation sickness virus.

"His heart rate has increased by 40bps." Helena said. "You've got to get them out of there!"

Victor tried to raise the men, but there was no reply. They both looked in horror to see the two men, going berserk out in the waste disposal. One of the men was screaming, trying to remove his helmet. The other man ran straight into the laser barrier which killed him instantly.

Helena hit the button on her comlock and called for a medical crew to the waste disposal area. The radiation disease had attacked again.

Eagle 1 had approached the moon. Its destination was Moonbase Alpha. In the passenger module, Commander John Koenig was going over some of his mission profiles that the Earth Space Commission had given him. It was his job to see that the Meta Probe was launch exactly on time. It had been five years since John had been on Alpha. He originally left after an event in the past that haunted him forever. This time, it was different and he was finally needed again. Commissioner Simmonds appeared on the screen with some interesting news.

"John." He said. "We have some rather interesting developments here regarding the Planet Meta."

"What developments?" John asked.

"Meta's transmitting signals." Simmonds replied. "This suggests that there is life on the planet. Just take a look at this signal pattern that our deep space probes had relayed to us this morning?"

The picture showed a circular blue signal pattern, making a echoing, whaling noise.

"So there is life." John muttered. "This is the break through of the century."

"Now the next phase of the project is down to you." Simmonds continued. "Your job is to put a man on Meta. The Space Commission have given us their full co-operation on this project so we've been given the go ahead."

"And what about the Meta Probe?" John asked.

The Screen then showed the long, slender metallic ship that was the Meta Probe, docking the orbiting space station. John smiled at the screen.

"It's looking good." He said. "I'm about to arrive on Alpha, I'll get straight to work when I get there. Koenig out."

The view screen flicked off just as the pilots voice echoed over the radio.

"Sir we are approaching launch pad 3." The pilot announced.

"Thank you Alan." John replied.

The Eagle touched down on the pad and the hatchway immediately extended, docking the side hatch of the craft. John exited the craft and made his way towards the travel tube. As doors opened, Victor appeared from the travel tube.

"John It's so good to see you again." he said with a smile.

"Victor." John replied returning the smile. "It's great to see you too."

The two men sat down and the car sped along the travel tube at a fast speed. Victor had to break the bad news when ever he could.

"Did you hear about the Meta signals?" John asked him.

"Yes I did and I must say that it's very impressive." Victor replied. "How's the Meta Probe coming along?"

"It's just this moment docked the space station, and that brings me here. I'm here to get the pilots set up and ready for the mission. Simmonds has now put me in charge of putting man on Meta."

"I'm afraid that can't happen."

"What do you mean?"

"People are dying up here John."

"Dying? How? Why?"

"We don't know. We believe that it's a severe case of radiation disease, but we can't tell for sure."

"Who's died from this disease?"

"That's just the thing. They were all astronaughts, and we suspect that the Meta astronaughts could be affected as well if we let them continue their training out on the lunar surface."

"But they need to be on the probe within three days. Victor if I delay the launch date then the whole project could be ruined. I mean just look at the funding we've had."

"I know, but we can't afford to take any risks at this time."

The travel tube came to the end of the line and the two men left. As they walked down the busy corridor towards main mission control, John and Victor continued their conversation.

"Look I need the facts not speculation and guesses." John continued. "If these men are dying then we find out how to contain the disease."

"Well we are." Victor explained. "By trying to contain as much waste as we can into fewer but bigger silos, especially in Waste Disposal Area 2. The only problem is that when the get near them, they get infected."

"So then how did the astronaughts get infected?"

"I don't know? But I'm going to find out?"

"Well I don't see how the astronaughts could've got infective if they're just flying over the disposal areas?"

"Well I didn't make the diagnosis. Dr Russell did."

"Russell? Helena Russell?"

"That's right. She's in the medical centre right now checking on the latest casualties."

John gave Victor a cold hard stare before he continued his way towards main mission.

Main mission control was basically the biggest room and section of the base. Alpha personal hurried in and out of the room, attending to their duties. In the centre of main mission were four black desks that formed a rectangular formation. They were covered in buttons, levers and computer monitors that operated the main functions of the base.

Paul Morrow was the main controller of operations of all Alpha sections. He had just started his fourth tour of duty on the base when Commander Koenig had arrived at the base. Positioned on the station next to him was chief of security Tony Verdeschi. He was only just assigned to the base as chief of the base's security operations. Tony and Paul had known each other for many years before joining Alpha. They both didn't realise that John had arrived a few minutes earlier. Opposite them were data analyst Sandra Benes and Computer analyst David Kano. They had both been assigned to Alpha on their second tour of duty. John entered main mission which startled everyone, even Paul.

"Welcome back Commander." He said with a grin as John headed towards his office.

"It's good to see all of you again." John replied as he placed his plastic, white case on his desk table. "I see some new faces among us today."

He looked directly at Tony as he was a new face to him.

"And you are?" he asked him, extending his hand, offering to hand shake.

"Tony Verdeschi." Tony replied, accepting the gesture. "I am the new chief of security on Alpha. Commander Gorski assigned me here just before his suspension."

"Gorski." John replied, wiping his smile away.

He then turned back to Victor, who displayed a frown at him.

"How did he take his suspension?" John asked him.

"Oh he took it very well." Victor replied. "Apparently, he wanted to retire anyway."

John just looked at him and sat down behind his new desk. He unpacked his essential paper work before addressing his message to the rest of the base. Everyone in the base stopped in their tracks to hear the Commander's speech.

"This Commander John Koenig. The President of the space board has requested that I am to assume command of Moonbase Alpha until the scheduled launching of the Meta Probe is underway. However, I have been informed of an outbreak of a type of radiation disease that has claimed the lives of five people. I will do everything in my power to ensure you that the disease will no longer claim anymore lives. This day will make its mark in history as we have received signals from the Planet Meta. There is life and it's now our job to put man on the planet. I know that some of you are pretty pissed at me right now because of Gorski's suspension and I know that some of you think that I'm careless, but I hope to assure you that I'm not the sort of person that you think I am. That is all."

John slowly slouched in his chair and rubbed his temples. He had only been on the base a few minutes and he had already had enough of the bad news that had been thrown at him. Victor and Tony approached him slowly and tried to be a bit sympathetic towards the tired Commander.

"Look, John." Victor said. "Why don't let Mr Vedeschi show you to your quarters. You look exhausted."

"No I'm fine thank you." John replied. "I just need some hot coffee and I need to talk to Dr Russell."

"Shall I call her up for you sir?" Tony asked.

"No that's alright … Tony right?" John replied. "But could you please give me and Victor a moment?"

Tony smiled and left the two men. John activated a switch on his desk, which closed the big, white, main mission doors. Victor took a seat as John began to express himself. Victor guessed that John didn't expect to know the current situation and he had to admit that hr didn't either. Victor had arrived on Alpha a few days before John did and he only just knew about the situation himself.

"Victor, when I was assigned here, I didn't expect to be handling a disease." John began. "I was only ordered to get the Meta Probe launched. I feel like I've been bombarded by bad news ever since I stepped a foot off the Eagle."

"Well if it's any consolation to you, I only just knew about it myself." Victor replied. "Dr Russell has the full report on the disease, but she has been too busy to find the time to tell me. All I know is that it's a radiation disease."

"Well then I think it's about time that I paid Dr Russell a visit." John said, changing the tone in his voice. "I want answers and I want them now."

He got up out of his chair and left the room, leaving Victor to sit there and ponder. Victor just smiled as he knew that he had just spoke to the same old John Koenig that he knew five years ago.

Helena Russell had just finished scanning the latest victims of the radiation disease when John entered the medical centre. She placed her scan results on her desk and greeted the Commander. John tried to remain calm and polite as he could possibly be regarding the situation

"Dr Russell?" he asked.

"Yes." Helena replied.

"John Koenig." He replied.

"Oh you're the new Commander that replaced Gorski." Helena continued. "Well I assume that you are here to get a full report on the situation?"

"That's right." John replied. "You see my job is to get the Meta Probe launched and Professor Bergman has informed me of the radiation disease and I'd like to help."

"It's not a disease." Helena explained. "Just look at these scan charts. Not all of the vital have been infected, only the brain stem. What we have here is a severe form of brain damage, one that seems to emit at a high altitude. That's how it's been affecting the pilots."

"I see." John replied realising the seriousness of the situation. "What do you think is causing the brain damage?"

"My only guess is the waste disposal areas." Helena replied. "These two were working in waste disposal area 2 when they were affected."

"Wait a minute." John interrupted. "The Meta Probe pilots train course is right over the waste disposal areas."

"That's right." Helena confirmed. "You have to postpone the test flights until we can find a way to cure this brain damage." 

"But the Probe launches in three days."

"We can't take the risk and besides, the space board are well aware of the situation."

"What?"

"Well Commissioner Simmonds was informed a few days ago of the disease."

"Helena, he assigned me to the base this morning. He told me that everything was going to schedule. Why didn't he tell me?"

Helena shrugged. She didn't know what to say but knew that John now had a bigger case on his hands that he had to deal with.

"Look." He said. "Thank you for telling me. Please let me know of anymore developments in this brain damage. Meanwhile I'm going to give Simmonds a piece of my mind about this."

"And what about the Meta Probe?" Helena asked.

"Well like you said Helena." John answered. "We can't afford to take the risk."

Just as John was about to leave the medical centre, Helena stopped him and said.

"John. I just saw the 9th man die today. He was fine and then he just went mad all of a sudden. If it is to do with the waste disposal areas then I think that board should stop sending up nuclear waste."

"I'll see what I can do." John replied, finally leaving the Dr to herself.

Later as John returned to his office, he contacted Commissioner Simmonds whose face instantly appeared on the black and white monitor.

"Ah John, how are you settling in?" Simmonds voice crackled over the radio.

"Why did you lie to me!" John blurted, coming straight out with the point.

"About what?" Simmonds replied, trying to sound innocent.

"You know exactly what!" John replied. "Did you honestly think that I wouldn't find out about the brain damage outbreak here on Alpha!"

"I didn't tell you for one plain reason." Simmonds sighed. "I assumed that you would terminate the Meta Probe and I couldn't let that happen."

"Well guess what Simmonds." John assured him. "You're right into assuming that because that is what I'm going to do. I'm going to postpone the test flights forthwith until this brain damage outbreak is cured."

"You can't do that." Simmonds explained. "If we delayed the project then we could lose all of our funding and our reputation. We have a deadline to meet."

"Then cancel the deadline."

"You know John; we have an official interview with the press on the 15th. As long as we can get the Meta Probe underway by then, then we'll be fine."

"The Meta Probe won't be going anywhere. Nine people have died up here from that brain damage and I can't afford to lose anyone else. You have to go with me on this?"

"Well I suppose that I can cause a temporary delay, but that's the best I can do."

"That's all I need Simmonds."

"Well while I'm here, you could at least tell what you think is causing the deaths?"

"Alright. We believe that the waste disposal areas are the cause of the deaths. It is believed that they are emitting high levels of radiation that affects the brain stem of any pilot who flies over them. The only way that we can possibly stop the disease is to stop all waste disposal flights from the Earth to the Moon."

"John you know fully well that nuclear waste is the biggest environmental issue of our time. The only place we can store them is at the disposal areas."

"The nuclear waste is what's killing our people!"

"No John! You're wrong! Look delaying the test flights is one thing but stopping nuclear shipments is pushing it!"

"Then you've just put all of our lives at risk."

Simmonds cut the transmission, leaving John to slam his fist down on the table. It took him a few minutes to calm down before he reached for his comlock.

"Paul." He said as the young controllers face appeared on his comlock screen. "Where is Alan Carter?"

"He's in the Eagle hangar bay Commander." Paul replied.

"Thank you." John replied.

He wanted to know what was going on over at the waste dumps and there was only one way he was going to find out.

Alan Carter had been a top, reliable astronaut for five long years in the running. Had had recently been assigned to Alpha as chief pilot of the Eagle team. He had known John Koenig for three years as it was and he had been personally selected to train the Meta Probe crew. However, he wasn't doing what he was meant to do because of the brain damage threat. Instead, he had been ordered to perform a major service check on all of the Eagles that were stored in the vast hangar behind him. The job was relativity simple as all he had to do was stand infront of the hangar view port with a checklist and watch each Eagle move past him as it was being carried on a crane. He had been at this job for four hours and he only had cleared twelve Eagles. It had to be the most boring job that he had ever had to do while serving on the base, but he was so engrossed in it that he didn't even here the Commander enter the room. John stood behind Alan, which startled him a little when he called out to him.

"Hello Alan." He said quietly.

"Commander Koenig. Well am I glad to see you." Alan replied, shaking the Commanders hand. "What can I do for you?"

"Well I assume that you are well aware of the radiation threat?" John began.

"Well I know of it." Alan replied. "Just enough to know that the Meta project has been put on hold."

"It's much more serious than that." John continued. "I need your help with something?"

"I can read you like a book sir." Alan replied. "And I can have Eagle 1 on the pad in a few minutes."

"Thank you." John replied with a smile. "I would like you to be my pilot. I want you to take me over to waste disposal area 2, at a high and safe altitude. I want to find out what's going on over there."

"Sure thing Commander." Alan replied. "But I'll need to know the safe altitude to fly at?"

"Hmm we better bring Professor Bergman with us." John replied. "Have him onboard with a mobile computer?"

"Will do." Alan said, placing his clipboard on the desk. "I'll see you in a bit."

As Alan left the hangar bay, John looked out into the hangar itself. He was amazed by the amount of Eagles that Alpha was able to store. He counted out over thirty Eagles in total and vowed to himself that he wasn't going to lose them all at once.

Eagle 1 appeared on the pad within exactly the few minuets and the walkway extended out to dock the side hatchway. John, Alan and Victor entered the Eagle and began to prepare for lift off. With the help of Alpha's main computer, Victor was able to give Alan the safe altitude levels. He displayed the reading to the young pilot before seating himself for liftoff.

The Eagle left the pad and flew towards the disposal areas. John and Victor were able to the lunar surface on the small display screen infront of them. The picture was crystal clear and showed the beacon's in great detail.

"As you can see, we are flying the test pilot route but at this safe altitude." Victor explained.

Waste disposal area 1 suddenly came into view, which caught Koenig's attention.

"I thought we were going to waste disposal area 2?" he said.

"Oh we are." Victor replied. "We just use waste disposal area 1 as a turning point."

John could see that waste disposal area 1 was covered in charcoal black. The lights had been shut off and the observation point was abandoned.

"What happened here?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Three years ago, we had a huge nuclear surge where the nuclear waste became unstable." Victor explained. "It was caused by the external heat of the caused by the external heat build up of the nuclear generators. Luckily we were able to shift the waste canisters into ant-radiation silos and fortunately the temperature had decreased and the dumps just burnt themselves out."

"Area 2 is a much bigger site complex as apposed to area 1." John pointed out. "What if there was to be a similar incident at that area?"

"Then there would be a less chance of us controlling it." Victor answered, causing his hairs to stand on end.

John had begun to get worried as waste disposal area 1 had revealed some clues as to what was going on.

"Ok Alan, move us on to area 2?" he said, as he spoke to the pilot.

"Yes sir." Alan replied nervously as he was worried about flying over the danger zones.

The Eagle continued to fly onwards and waste disposal area 2 had finally come into view. Its panelled lights gave it an almost eerie feeling as if it was evil and John began to feel restless. Area 2 was indeed a much bigger complex like he guessed it to be. It was 2000 metres in diameter and it was hooked to many pipes that connected to the many waste domes that trailed behind it. It looked harmless enough as the Eagle passed over it, but John wasn't convinced one bit.

"Do you want me to land Commander?" Alan asked.

"No that's alright thank you Alan." John replied. "I don't want to have another casualty on my hands."

Alan steered the Eagle round as they returned to Alpha, but the flight back wasn't going to be the same as on the way out.

Alan was alerted to the sound of an alarm. The flashing blinking light indicated that there was a malfunction in the Eagle's motors. He tried to correct the problem by restarting the malfunctioning motor jet, but it still wasn't responding. Suddenly, the Eagle had begun to lose height and before they all knew it, they were diving down towards the lunar surface.

"Commander, Professor!" he barked through the hatchway behind him. "Brace yourselves for impact!"

John and Victor took brace positions by diving onto the floor as the Eagle impacted on the lunar surface. It skidded for a few moments, kicking up a dust trail as it went.

Back at main mission, the crash was displayed on the view screen. Paul Morrow instantly took action.

"Main mission to launch section." He announced. "Have a rescue Eagle on the pad straight away. Medical section to report to Eagle 4 straight away."

Within seconds, a rescue Eagle lifted off the pad and raced towards the crippled Eagle 1.

John and Victor were alright let alone the Eagle that they were in was smashed up like a tin can. John picked himself up off of the floor and crawled himself towards the cockpit. Victor rose up from the ground and managed to follow him. John entered the smashed up cockpit to find that Alan was unconscious and injured. The control panel was is smoke and was spitting sparks at the men. Alan woke up slowly and rubbed his dizzy, aching head. He looked up to find John and Victor, checking him over for any serious damage.

"I'm fine, honestly." He re-assured them. "I just hope that Alpha can get us out of here?"

"What happened?" John asked.

"I don't know." Alan muttered. "All I know was that the motor had cut out when we just passed the waste domes. I tried to correct the problem but instead of the motor re-starting, we crashed instead."

"There is one possible explanation." Victor added as he tried to work out what had happened.

The two men knelt down into a comfortable position until they were level with Alan. John attended to Alan's injuries while Victor surveyed the Eagle's control panels, hoping that he could find some evidence to back up his theory. He came across a small panel that was mounted to the side of the hull only this time, two of its support screws had loosened during the crash causing the panel to expose some dangerous wires. He rubbed his chin and then pulled the loose panel off the hull. Holding the panel shell in his hands, he then began to inspect the interior. He noticed that the circuitry had been fused and there for it had melted. Looking up at John, he began to explain his theory.

"I know what caused us to crash." He said. "Look at this panelling which I've removed. This is the motor control master switch. Am I correct?"

"Yes." Alan verified.

"Look at the circuitry inside this panel." Victor continued. "These wires were constructed of a special metal compound that would absorb radiation waves in order to produce the right amount power. As we moved over area 2, the radiation waves penetrated the hull of the Eagle and into the circuitry. However, the circuitry can only absorb a certain amount of low waves and when the high intensity waves of area 2 hit the circuitry; it caused them to fuse as the compound had been melted."

John understood Victor's theory and it led to one dangerous conclusion.

"The radiation levels have increased." He said. "And if we don't stop it, then it could go up like area 1 did and we wouldn't have a clue on how to stop it."

Suddenly, Alan broke up the conversation by pointing at the window. As John and Victor looked, they were relieved to see that Eagle 4 had arrived. They were now safe, but Moonbase Alpha was still in mortal danger.

Two hours had passed since Eagle 4 had returned to Alpha. The three of them were fine and were fit for duty so they headed up towards main mission along with Helena to hold a command conference.

Later in the conference hall, which was situated behind John's office; John had to tell his staff about the dangerous situation that they were now facing. Sitting at the big round table were Paul, Sandra, Alan, Tony, Victor, Kano, Helena and Simmonds, who had took the last Eagle flight up just to attend. John had come down straight to the point as he they were wasting precious time.

"Waste Disposal Area 2 is emitting high intensity radiation waves that are immobilizing craft and killing our men." He began. "According to base's records, similar events had occurred at Area 1 just a few months back. Area 2 is a much bigger complex than area 1 so there is problem of containing any fire. However, we need more information to help us make any rash decisions."

He then went around the table, asking each member for results in their section. Paul was the first to speak.

"Well we have had minor static interference from the domes, but I do have enough power to bring In the Eagles on remote control as well as visual and sensor readings."

Then it was Sandra's turn to speak.

"According to the data readouts, there is a tremendous source of heat building up at area 2." She said. "It is impossible?"

"A build up of heat?" John replied. "How can that be? We didn't register anything like that on the Eagle's sensors?"

"Computer confirms it Commander." Kano answered. "There is an increasing amount of activity that is building up from waste disposal area 2."

John then immediately glanced over at Simmonds and began to growl.

"Simmonds!" he barked. "You have to stop the nuclear waste shipments now!"

"I'm sorry John, but no can do." Simmonds replied calmly. "The next shipment is due here in another thirty minuets."

"Then cancel it!"

"I can't!"

"Of course you can! You have the authority to do so, so do it! Don't you have any compassion!"

Simmonds just looked at the furious Commander and said nothing. He didn't know what to say. John wanted to punch him, punch him so hard that he would knock his teeth out, but he had to remain calm. Suddenly, his compost sounded, alerting his attention.

"What is it Yasko?" he asked as he answered the call.

Yasko's face appeared on the screen.

"Commander, you better take a look at this." She said.

Using his comlock, John opened the big double doors that revealed main mission control. He approached Yasko and demanded to know what the problem was. She diverted his attention to the main view screen. Waste disposal area 2 was on the screen, but there was a problem. The area had become a red hot creator. The lunar surface around it had become red hot and the canisters were firing energy particles into the air, which looked like bright blue lightning bolts. The view screen then zoomed in on the canisters themselves. They were melting and were spewing up hot molten metal.

"There's the source of the heat." Victor said. "And it's happening the same way as area 1 did."

"Video blackout!" Paul shouted, as the picture had been replaced with static. "I'll punch up satellite beacon 1."

The picture reappeared on the screen. This time, it was a different angle.

"It looks disturbingly beautiful." Helena said.

Once again the picture blacked out revealing static once more.

"We've got to find out what's going on out there." John said. "But we can't risk anymore men out there."

"We might have to if we are going to do something about moving those containers?" Victor added. "If we get four freighter Eagles out there with cranes, we can move the canisters to a safe underground compartment where it will be secured away from the heat. Then there will be a less chance of a disaster and the area can burn itself out."

"It's a long shot." John replied. "Alan, you'll be in charge of the operation. Take the Commissioners Eagle if you have to. Paul launch a robot Eagle with an onboard camera running and patch the visual link through to main mission."

Simmonds approached Victor. He still failed to realise how serious the situation was.

"So is there chance that the area will burn itself out? Will we get out of this? If so then I would like to issue a communiqué."

"You still don't get do you?" John replied. "We're sitting right on top of it! Area 2 is dispersing the same amount of radiation as a dozed H bombs! We are sitting on one giant bomb that could go off anytime soon."

Four freighter Eagles headed towards the highly dangerous area 2. Alan Carter and co-pilot Bill Frasier were leading the Eagles in Eagle 2. It wasn't hard to spot the area as it was now a great ball of light.

Victor had insulated all the Eagles a few hours back, so they could operate in and around area 2. So far, the insulation coils were working.

The first freighter Eagle had arrived at the area and the pilot had immediately lowered his magnetic grappling clamp one of the canisters. As the Eagle carried the canister out of the area, another Eagle moved in and then another and the other, until they had made a cycle. The robot Eagle had arrived and hovered over the area. It's camera was able to catch and the feed the whole operation through to main mission.

John sat at his desk as he watched the operation. Victor and Helena stood beside him with Tony standing behind him.

"It looks promising." Tony said. "Do you think that we'll make it?"

"It's too hard to tell at the moment, Tony." Helena replied. "I hope that we don't lose anymore men and Eagles out there."

"We won't." John assured her. "I have confidence in Alan and Bill."

All of a sudden, Paul screamed at his computer console.

"Commander, I've lost control of the Eagle!"

John rushed down towards Paul and helped him try the emergency circuits.

"Try and bring it back!" he shouted.

"It's too late!" Paul barked back. "She's going down."

The robot Eagle careered out of control and crashed into area 2, exploding on impact. The screen had changed to static again for the third time within the hour. John placed his head in his hands as the entire room of main mission fell silent. They would never know what would happen now.

Simmonds approached John from behind, signing into his hands.

"So what are we going to do now John?" he asked.

"We need help from Earth immediately." John replied. "Please, could help us out here?"

"Let me have an Eagle. I can go to the orbiting space dock and request freighter ships."

"Ok then." John agreed. "Eagle 5 is on the pad in a few minuets. You better get going."

Simmonds left control room as John slumped in his chair. Victor and Helena approached him and tried to assure him that they were going to get out of this predicament, but the furious Commander didn't want to listen to them.

Suddenly, Alan's face appeared on the screen. Paul tried to adjust the frequency settings so Alan could transmit clearly.

"Commander, this isn't working." He reported. "The canisters are still bubbling like an active volcano. This place is going to go up!"

Kano rushed over to the computer to get a temperature reading. He tore out the slip of paper and read out the result, alarmed.

"The computer confirms that sir!" He yelled. "Area 2 is about to explode!"

"Paul, get the Eagles out of there NOW!" Koenig yelled.

"All Eagles return to base. Repeat, all Eagles return to base!" Paul snapped.

The Eagles pulled away from the area just as the dumps began to explode violently. Using full power, only two of the five Eagles escaped the huge blasts, one of which was Alan and Bill. Their Eagle was thrown away towards Earth, safe from the damage area.

The towers exploded as well, destroying the observation room and the docking bay. The explosions themselves had set off a chain reaction which travelled across the lunar surface, towards Alpha. When the first explosion hit one of the buildings, the whole base had rocked violently, throwing the Alphans around the base like ragdolls. Windows smashed, corridors, de-pressurised, composts exploded and the lighting went out.

"Let's get out of here!" Tony shouted.

"Too late!" Victor shouted back.

The launch pads exploded along with the travel tubes and the higher levels of the base. The Eagles had been destroyed along with their docking terminals and fuelling stations. On pad 4, Eagle 5 lifted off but was caught in the explosion. Simmonds was dead.

Suddenly, something terrifying had began to occur as every Alphan was forced to the floor. The buildings began to rumble, the computer consoles sparked and blew and the walls began to creak. John and the rest of the base were completely pinned to the ground and the floor rumbled beneath them.

"We-we're moving!" Paul struggled to speak. "Why are….we moving?"

"I can't…I can't move." Helena cried.

"G-force!" Victor struggled to explain. "The Gravitational force must be tremendous."

Outside, Alan and Bill could see what they thought would be impossible. The Moon was moving at an incredible speed. They saw a huge bright glow that enveloped the base, so bright that the two pilots had to avert their eyes.

"This can't be happening!" Bill shouted. "The Moon is leaving Earth's orbit!"

Alan tried to contact Alpha, but there was no reply, only static and a deafening sound of rumbling.

"Alpha do you copy!" Alan screamed over the radio. "The Moon is going out of Earth's orbit!"

Inside, The Alphans were still pinned down by the immense G-force that was crushing the base. Alan's voice echoed over the radio and could be faintly heard. John struggled in pain as he slowly crawled towards the radio, which was on Paul's damaged computer console. He applied his pressure to the radio controls and struggled to speak into the microphone.

"A-Alan." He said.

"Commander!" Alan shouted in relief. "Thank god you're ok. Are you all alright down there?"

"We're pinned down by immense G-force." John explain.

Then the lights flipped back on and the brute strength of the G-force began to decrease, allowing everyone to stand up. Paul rose up from the ground and helped everyone up. He was injured when he fell but he was alright. The rumbling sound began to fade away which suggested that the Moon had begun to slow down.

"Is everyone alright?" John said to the rest of the staff. "Helena are you alright? What about you Victor? Tony?"

"We're all fine." Helena replied. "What the hell happened?"

"I know what's happened?" Victor replied. "The explosion acted like a giant rocket jet, propelling us out of Earth's orbit. When the dumps finally burnt themselves out, the Moon began to decelerate."

"Do you think that Alan and Bill can make it?" Tony asked.

"I hope so." John replied, pressing down on the key pad to the radio. "Main mission to Eagle 2. Alan can you make it back to base?"

"I think I can make it." Alan replied. "Yes I can make it. I'm coming up on you now. Oh and Commander, Simmonds is dead. Eagle 5 blew up on the launch pad and the orbital space dock has also been destroyed."

John looked at Victor in horror at the whole incident.

"Just get back here Alan." He replied. "And thanks for telling us."

Eagle 2 landed safely, and Alan and Bill raced through the corridors towards main mission control. As they arrived, they noticed that everyone had gathered around John at his office. He then knew that he was going to make the toughest decision ever that would decide the fate of them all.

The screen behind them showed the Moon, passing the planet Mars. The picture had been relayed to them by the near by orbiting Mars satellite.

"Will we make it back to Earth?" Paul asked.

"No." John replied. "We've had computer calculate the possible attempt of "Operation Exodus. The results state that it's impossible. If we evacuated everyone in all of our Eagles, then they're supplies would run out, and the fuel motors would burn themselves up. We would die out there."

Everyone stared at the Commander in guilt, fear and anger. John didn't want to be in this situation, hell he didn't even want to be on Alpha, but when it came down to reality, he knew that Moonbase Alpha and everyone on it was now his responsibility. Oh how he wished that it was just a horrific nightmare and that he would wake up on Earth. He took a deep gulp and a breath and continued to speak.

"It is apparent that we have power, supplies, environment and transportation, so we are capable of surviving here. I know how much you really want to attempt to return to Earth. I know I would, but it's within my instinct, my judgement and my heart that we do not try."

Paul suddenly picked up a faint signal from Earth. He locked in on the signal and brought it up on the screen. It was a news broadcast that was being transmitted from New York City. The news reader was an elderly gentleman who was wearing a grey suit piece and holding his news papers.

"The horrific and unfortunate accident that had rid us of our Moon has left some serious repercussions here on Earth." The reader said. "With earthquakes measuring up to 7.8 on the Richter scale across the San Andreas Fault and mass flooding in Mexico and Great Britain, due to changes in tide. As for the 300 men and women of Moonbase Alpha, we don't know if they survived or not. It was said that a rescue mission had been devised from the international space dock, but that has been reported destroyed along with the long awaited Meta probe due to the Moons velocity."

The signal had began to break up and the picture was instantly wiped from the screen. Paul tried to re trace the signal but couldn't as they all discovered that the Moon was approaching Jupiter, but just as John was about to walk into his office, Paul had picked up another signal only this time, had a familiar sound to John. The image came up on the display screen. It was the blue, circular, squiggly signals of Meta.

"It's Meta." Victor said.

"Maybe that's where our fate lies?" Helena added.

John nodded at her and slowly approached the big screen. He gazed up at it in amazement and said.

"It is September 13th 2099 and the Meta signals are increasing. Maybe we should settle there? Yes there."

End


End file.
